Check in here for strategies on completing the Daily and Weekly Challenges in Halo: Reach. If it’s your first time, click through the About HRD link above; and add comments below if you’ve got a good idea of your own for tackling the Challenges today.

***WEEKLY CHALLENGE LAST DAY!***

SCREENSHOT OF THE DAY

SCREENSHOT OF THE DAY: Pahute Mesa

Screenshot Of The Day today courtesy of Pahute Mesa, who reminds us there’s nothing quite like a good explosion of Zombie blood on a fine Sunday morning. Thanks, Pahute! Everyone, click to enlarge!

Meanwhile, if you haven’t done it already, yo: Send your screenshots to haloreachdaily@live.com, or just make a file recommendation to us on XBox (Gamertag: Ender Xer0, with a zero), and we’ll take care of the rest. Remember: we’re not looking for plain Forge art or random pix from the Internet; it should be a screenshot of YOU!

LIGHT FARE

You’ll score most of these automatically as part of completing your other Daily Challenges today. For leftovers, just head into ONI Sword Base or an anti-Grunt Custom Firefight game (see links at top of the page for both).

THERE ARE MANY LIKE IT. . .

Load up any Campaign level on Normal that offers a precision weapon plus lots o’ Grunts, and get to work.

ONI Sword Base features a DMR start and opens in the middle of a firefight, plus there’s a Sniper Rifle at the end of the base-side Terrace for pwning Elites once you’ve cleared the Jackals and Grunts. Winter Contingency at Rally Point Bravo literally drops you into a Fodder-O-Rama of a firefight; and though you enter with an Assault Rifle, a DMR conveniently awaits your weapon swap on the asphalt leading to the rear bunker, with more ammo for it just inside.

(Nightfall, of course, spawns you with a Sniper, but with 50 kills in front of you, it’s not going to wrap things as quickly; and do you really want Jun telling you to “do it quiet” again? Anyway, take yer pick.)

Concentrate on headshots against Grunts and Jackals, since those award extra Medal cR, and don’t waste DMR ammo on the Elites — you’ll run out of enemies before hitting the half-century mark and need to revert the Checkpoint anyway; so, unless you feel like sniping, you might as well reset as soon as you’ve cleaned slate on the lesser Covies.

If you run low on ammo, simply swipe Needle Rifles from the fallen Jackals; those register precision kills like a DMR, but heading into a bunker for a DMR reload can trigger a Checkpoint, meaning you’d have to settle for a full level restart.

KILLAGRUNTJARO!

Despite its name, Killagruntjaro doesn’t actually require you to Jaro anything, though we will be going with Gruntpocalypse in Score Attack to wrap this in one Round rather than three.

It shouldn’t be any problem to Magnum or DMR your way to seven Multikills, since the Grunts go down with one shot, travel in packs, and maneuver with the agility of highway roadside accident. So, if you can’t manage seven out of a single match, you’re just not trying.

We prefer Rumble Pit on smaller, tighter maps: Wherever you can sneak up on someone, catch them by surprise as they come ’round a corner or make a straight Sprint toward their unsuspecting spines will offer all sorts of banzai backstab openings.

Although you can Sprint for a cheetah-like takedown, you can stalk just as easily with Active Camo if you don’t mind alerting your prey to nearby danger, since Camo-crouched near a doorway or corner for a lightning strike will make the Discovery Channel highlight reel as well.

Though it often goes hand-in-glove with Rumble Pit recommendations, avoid Multi-Team for this one: There’s just too much damn gunfire everywhere, and you could easily find yourself Yoinked — or worse, Showstopped — as the Assassination animation plays.

Finally, an excellent point from reader MAL, who in real life makes his living as a professional assassin:

Choosing a ‘Pro’ game in Matchmaking Rumble Pit, like Crazy King Pro or Slayer Pro, makes this extremely simple. The lack of radar will make it easy to sneak up on opponents and get multiple assassinations.

Check in here for strategies on completing the Daily and Weekly Challenges in Halo: Reach. If it’s your first time, click through the About HRD link above; and add comments below if you’ve got a good idea of your own for tackling the Challenges today.

SCREENSHOT OF THE DAY

SCREENSHOT OF THE DAY: PaperTowels

Holy crap, that’s BADASS! Screenshot Of The Day today courtesy of PaperTowels9876, who will wipe the counter with your dead, twitching body. Goddamn right, PT! Everyone, click to enlarge!

Meanwhile, if you haven’t done it already, yo: Send your screenshots to haloreachdaily@live.com, or just make a file recommendation to us on XBox (Gamertag: Ender Xer0, with a zero), and we’ll take care of the rest. Remember: we’re not looking for plain Forge art or random pix from the Internet; it should be a screenshot of YOU!

COVENANT-CIDE

Load up any power-weapon Firefight Arcade game and you should be able to blast your way to this Challenge in a single match. Even if you fall short of the mark, though, it’s a simple matter to just fire up another, or wrap things up in Score Attack.

(We’d recommend against Score Attack for starters, however; though Gruntpocalypse seems like an obvious choice, since it offers exactly the right number of Grunts — 120 — they have a tendancy to blow up themselves, or each other, or both, meaning you’d fall short and need a second match anyway.)

PASS THE ROCK

NOTE: Remember that maddening glitch from the first time this Challenge appeared, when it required you to score Assists before your first death, and then the counter locked until your next game? Yeah, well, that’s been fixed. Rack up your Assists and get killed with reckless abandon, they’ll all still register toward the Challenge.

So, our standard spiel: Working toward Assists can always be a hassle, since your natural instincts and gaming skills focus on putting down your enemies, not passing the kill off to another player. Nobody makes the highlight reel by almost scoring 20 times.

Despite that, Bungie intends to pay you today to help out other players who haven’t really earned it when they cash in on your setup. Click on the Assist-O-Rama permanent link at the top of the page for our in-depth guide to Not Closing The Deal.

PARTICIPATION COUNTS

Yes, you really can earn this by doing absolutely nothing for four games; it’s hard to call it a “Challenge” when the only requirement is that your controller doesn’t turn off. (And even then.) But, hey, it’s 1200 free cRedits — so don’t complain, eh?

Check in here for strategies on completing the Daily and Weekly Challenges in Halo: Reach. If it’s your first time, click through the About HRD link above; and add comments below if you’ve got a good idea of your own for tackling the Challenges today.

SCREENSHOT OF THE DAY

SCREENSHOT OF THE DAY: ENDEROFLEGEND

Screenshot Of The Day today in honor of new Ender Nation clan member ENDEROFLEGEND, rocking a flaming Gugnir helmet in outer space. Cool! Welcome to the Pillar Of Awesome,Legend! Everyone, click to enlarge!

Meanwhile, if you haven’t done it already, yo: Send your screenshots to haloreachdaily@live.com, or just make a file recommendation to us on XBox (Gamertag: Ender Xer0, with a zero), and we’ll take care of the rest. Remember: we’re not looking for plain Forge art or random pix from the Internet; it should be a screenshot of YOU!

SHOOTIN’ AND LOOTIN’

Take this one on last; you’ll score at least some of these as part of completing your other Daily Challenges today. For leftovers, just head into ONI Sword Base or an Anti-Grunt Custom Firefight game (see links at top of the page for both).

Any Elite gametype will start you with Plasma Grenades, as will Invasion (Covie side) and Pro gametypes (Warden Loadout). But Plasmas are also scattered all over the maps, and respawn almost constantly, so if you prefer a different gametype/loadout you’ll still find with more than enough to spare.

Look for playlists that put you on smaller, tighter maps, where close-quarter combat virtually begs you stick opponents with impunity. Enemies with Armor Lock (AKA “Fuckin’ Armor-Locking Douchebags” — except, of course, when it’s you) will in turn frustrate you with impunity; so, vote for Pro gametypes — which don’t allow for Armor-Locking Douchebags — and especially King Of The Hill, where enemies cluster into spamworthy hot-zones that additionally disable Armor Abilities while inside.

Rumble Pit remains a top option, specifically because it offers a candy store of Elite, Pro and KotH gametypes, on exactly the type of maps that invite you to go stick-or-treating — and you only need to score one, yeah?

Invasion likewise represents a solid option, since even the open maps still encourage enemies to concentrate around the capture points, though when on the Spartan side you’ll need to scope for fallen Plasmas before being able to stick Covies crouched in the countdown zone. Just scan for dead Dinos after one of their attack rushes; you should find them everywhere.

FOURTH HORSEMAN

Multi-Kills, while typical, are often a question of circumstance. Getting the odds to align in your favor four times in one match can be tricky, but there’s a few things you can do to skitch them in your favor.

Grifball remains your best bet. You can score a Double-Kill with a single hammer swing, and all other things being equal you should register a saddlebag full of multikills before the game ends just by happenstance.

Not a fan of the orange dude with the bomb? Well, OK, you’re weird, but whatever. Head instead into Rumble Pit or Multi-Team; more enemies on smaller maps = more multikills.

Vote for gametypes on smaller, tighter maps that encourage enemies to converge into single flashpoints: King Of The Hill and Oddball, for example. Spam grenades into the hotzone, followed by DMR or Magnum headshots and the occasional coup-de-grace melee rush. Avoid the area yourself, however; no sense adding your corpse to the fiesta.

The Pit’s Juggernaut can be a mixed blessing: If you’ve got the Hammer, you’ll have an excellent opportunity to skullcrush your way to multiple Multi-Kills. If you’re not Jugs, you won’t be able to score any. Seek out power weapons like Rockets that can deal massive damage to the Juggernaut from a distance; and even without them, steer clear of close-combat and nickel-and-dime your target from range — if you’re lucky, you’ll score the last shot, and get a Hammer for your efforts.

If you’re not having much luck in the Pit, get a friend and head into Multi-Team; it’s like Rumble Pit With Partners, and your enemies usually travel in pairs or threes — almost as if they’re asking to all get killed together, yes? So, coordinate with your teammates: team-shoot one enemy, then whoever doesn’t score the final shot can melee or plasma-burst another, setting up the Multi-Kill.

Big Team Battle and Invasion also offer Multi-Kill opportunities: taking out a vehicle with passenger, or a pair of enemies in the unlock zone of an Invasion phase, seem like good bets. Your main problem, however, will be not your enemies but your allies — with so many players on each side, you’ll have considerable competition among your teammates to actually score those kills.

NOTE: The Challenge tracks your progress by keeping track of medals; that means a Double-Kill that stacks into a Triple and eventually an Overkill nets you three Challenge points, not just one. Pretty good, eh?

TAKE NOTE, however: Despite what it may say on your Reach game stats page over at Bungie.net, simply finishing in the top half of a Free-For-All game will NOT register as a win for your Challenge progress here — you’ll need to place First, or not at all.

Similarly, avoid any Objective gametypes that frequently end in a tie — Capture The Flag or Assault, for example — since although your game score registers a win for both sides (that is, you both came in “first”), the Daily Challenge is not so generous; either one team takes the top spot, or both sides lose.

Avoid Big Team Battle and Invasion; though generally worth more cRedits, they also take longer, and you’re targeting wins here, not just cR. Plus, you can spend twice as much time in a Big Team game and still have a 50% chance of finishing without any Challenge progress; two smaller-squad games will earn just as many credits in the same time, but double your chances at a win.

Remember when I said to avoid Objective games? Well, just as it does with most things, Grifball breaks the rules. Games are usually quick and generally won’t end in a tie, and so all other things being equal you’ll go in with about a 50-50 chance of pulling Host and scoring the win.

Check in here for strategies on completing the Daily and Weekly Challenges in Halo: Reach. If it’s your first time, click through the About HRD link above; and add comments below if you’ve got a good idea of your own for tackling the Challenges today.

SCREENSHOT OF THE DAY

SCREENSHOT OF THE DAY: seakoral

We’re not sure exactly what’s happening here — either someone pissed off the Jedi Council, or Neo just figured out that Spartans don’t belong in the Matrix — but it sure looks hellacool. Screenshot Of The Day today courtesy of seakoral — thanks SK! Everyone, click to enlarge!

Meanwhile, if you haven’t done it already, yo: Send your screenshots to haloreachdaily@live.com, or just make a file recommendation to us on XBox (Gamertag: Ender Xer0, with a zero), and we’ll take care of the rest. Remember: we’re not looking for plain Forge art or random pix from the Internet; it should be a screenshot of YOU!

ONE SPARTAN ARMY

Take this one on last; you’ll already score a good number of these on your way to your other Challenges. For your leftovers, you can continue to stick it out alone in Score Attack — Gruntpocalypse is probably easiest, with 120 enemies per round who go down from a single trigger-pull — though Firefight Arcade offers you Overshields, three Rounds (plus a Bonus) of enemies and a virtual salad bar of power weapons; you’ll just have to share in your kills. (But hey, Firefight is supposed to be cooperative, yeah?)

Wow, someone really needs to convince Bungie that Baby Jesus cries every time a Covie vehicle gets destroyed. The Challenge Gods there simply have NO perspective on what a massive hassle this is: Most Firefights feature only a handful of destructible vehicles — while some maps don’t feature any at all — and, on Challenge day, everyone will be shooting at them.

That means you’ll be lucky to average one per game — and that means on average 10 games, for a cRedit bonus you could earn by standing AFK at Grifball. The one marginal benefit remains that vehicles themselves offer jumbo cRedit bonuses — including the lowly Ghost — even without the Challenge, which makes the ordeal only slightly more worth your while.

But, if you’re a Challenge completionist, knock yourself out — we’ll wake you when it’s over.

Stick to Firefight Limited; most Arcade and Score Attack maps have removed all traces of enemy-occupied anything.

Beachhead represents a top option, featuring both Wraiths and Ghosts, along with a Rocket Hog to help you deliver your damage. Glacier offers both vehicles as well, though you’ll need to scrapyard them with more conventional methods. So, it’s a bit like choosing between cat poop and dog poop: either way, both options kinda stink.

You might also consider Holdout, the only map that will work for you in Arcade as well: though most weapons you spawn with aren’t necessarily suited for taking out Banshees, the map features three turrets that will ventilate the aircraft in short order; just be careful to aim for the nose and not the tail, or you might accidentally ventilate the Covie pilot first and get no Challenge credit for an “enemy vehicle” kill.

If attempting that, also remember that in most of the gametypes if you drop the heavy gun, you won’t be able to pick it up again. The Banshees seem to appear based on game time, rather than Waves or match progress, so keep an eye out for them.

Meanwhile, of course, avoid Courtyard and Waterfront, since — apart from Dropships — they don’t offer any vehicles at all.

Firefight Arcade has rendered the Demon Challenges vastly easier, since games now feature entire Waves of Elites and three Rounds worth of them as well. Still, it won’t be that easy to string up 30 mandibles in a single match — particularly with other players hunting for Dino meat as well — so be prepared for their arrival.

The Heretics actually present more of a threat than the Boss-Wave Elites, since they’re way more in number and rock instant-kill weapons like aimbot-controlled Sniper Rifles; a helluva lot more dangerous than some solo Gold Elite with a melee weapon. Look for Arcade playlists with concussive weapons — Grenade Launchers, FRGs, and of course Concussion Rifles — to bounce their sharpshooters around the map; that’ll actually throw off their aim and extend your lifespan amid the headshot crossfire.

Drop Shield will also buy you some extra time — but make sure to use it where you’ve got other cover as well, since it won’t last long under sustained unlimited Sniper and Rocket fire.

BE THEIR HUCKLEBERRY

A Challenge tailor-made for Gruntpocalypse: Fire up Score Attack, select Drop Shield as your Armor Ability, then slide past the ammo crate to stock up on rounds. Switch to your Magnum and let the target practice begin. You’ll need two matches for this, but you’ll notch the Challenge before the boom-chucka-boom music of the second game’s final Wave begins. As always, focus on headshots and multikills, since the Firefight medals earn you additional cR.

Check in here for strategies on completing the Daily and Weekly Challenges in Halo: Reach. If it’s your first time, click through the About HRD link above; and add comments below if you’ve got a good idea of your own for tackling the Challenges today.

LOL SPARTZ SCREENSHOT OF THE DAY

LOL SPARTZ SCREENSHOT OF THE DAY: rubberducky296

Yowtch! Wave goodbye to our LOL SPARTZ Comedy Week of Screenshots while you wave goodbye to rubberducky296’s testicles. (Not that you ever said hello to them, but still.) Thanks, Ducks! And thanks to everyone who sent in pix of lulz, ROFLs and Epic Fails; it’s been great fun, and we’ll be sure to do it again. In the meantime, everyone click to enlarge!

Our regular Screenshot Of The Day feature returns tomorrow. So if you haven’t done it yet, yo: Just shoot a pic over to haloreachdaily@live.com, or make a file recommendation to us on XBox (Gamertag: Ender Xer0, with a zero), and we’ll take care of the rest. Remember: we’re not looking for plain Forge art or random pix from the Internet; it should be a screenshot of YOU!

FIRE WHEN READY

Ooh! A Grifball team photo! Screenshot by IIITiNyFuRyIII of the New Mombasa Lions. Roar! (You’ll notch this Challenge in just one or two games, and be able to score your Three Dog Fight Triple-Kill Challenge (see below) at the same time. If the Lions don’t eat the three dogs, that is.)

A SIMPLE SPREE

Actually, it would be more of a challenge to complete a Firefight match WITHOUT a Spree. Kill 10 Covies without dying and you’ve got a Spree. Kill only five, but with a Hammer, Sword or Shottie, and you’ve got a Spree. Or a Laser. Or a Sniper. Or Stickies. Or…well, okay. You get the idea.

LINKED UP WITH BUNGIE.NET

Link your Gamertag with Bungie.Net and play a game in Halo: Reach Matchmaking.

This is Bungie‘s way of telling you that its Website is up and running again. (Hey, wouldn’t it have been funny if this Challenge had appeared yesterday? Okay, maybe not so funny. But still pretty funny.)

Some people report problems making this Challenge click. If you’re a new Bungie.net user and have difficulty getting it to flash, you might need to do something that only a registered account could, such as change your nameplate; that’ll trigger the Challenge completion, and the bonus along with it.

Also, keep in mind: the game awards you the bonus the moment you enter a Matchmaking game, so it gives you the cRedits immediately rather than in your post-game report. People sometimes don’t pay attention to their cRedits beforehand, and don’t realize they’ve already received the bonus when the end cRedits roll.

THREE DOG FIGHT

Before the rise of Grifball, this used to actually be challenging; now, a couple of well-timed hammer swings will net you a Trip pretty regularly.

If you’re not a fan of the orange dude with the bomb — well, OK, you’re adopted, so that explains it — you’ve still got a number of options that’ll skitch the odds in your favor:

Start with Rumble Pit. More enemies on smaller maps = more Multikills.

Vote for gametypes on small, tight maps that encourage enemies to converge into single flashpoints: King Of The Hill and Oddball, for example. Spam grenades into the hotzone, followed by DMR or Magnum headshots and the occasional coup-de-grace melee rush. Avoid the area yourself, however; no sense adding your corpse to the fiesta.

Big Team Battle and Invasion also offer prime Multikill targets: a warthog with a gunner and passenger, or a pack of enemies in the unlock zone of an Invasion phase, for example. Your main problem will not be enemies, but allies: with so many players on each side, you’ll have considerable competition to actually score the kills.

Check in here for strategies on completing the Daily and Weekly Challenges in Halo: Reach. If it’s your first time, click through the About HRD link above; and add comments below if you’ve got a good idea of your own for tackling the Challenges today.

LOL SPARTZ SCREENSHOT OF THE DAY

LOL SPARTZ SCREENSHOT OF THE DAY: ender4449

Hey, toaster, you probably shouldn’t have destroyed the 12 Colonies of Humanity, even if it meant we got to watch Tricia Helfer in a red dress for the next five seasons. Ah well — you can’t trust those frakkin’ Cylons. LOL Spartz Screenshots Of The Day today courtesy of clan-brother ender4449, who as an Ender can’t be trusted either. Thanks again, Niner! Everyone, click to enlarge!

We’re running an entire Comedy Week of laughs, lulz and ROFLs here on the Pillar Of Awesome.Got a funny screenshot of Epic Fail or overall Halo hilarity? Send it in! We’ll run ’em for the rest of the month or until we run out. Just shoot it over to haloreachdaily@live.com, or make a file recommendation to us on XBox (Gamertag: Ender Xer0, with a zero), and we’ll take care of the rest. Remember: we’re not looking for plain Forge art or random pix from the Internet; it should be a screenshot of YOU!

ONE SPARTAN ARMY

You’ll notch this in a single Round of Score Attack — we prefer Gruntpocalypse, but 2X Score Attack will work just as well. You’ll pocket your Challenge cRedits just after the boom-chucka-boom music of the final Wave fires up; you won’t be able to work on your Support Structure Challenge (see below) at the same time, since Assists require a partner, but that one’s a huge hassle and you’ll clear this so quickly it’ll be worth it to do it separately.

SUPPORT STRUCTURE

This is actually MUCH harder than it sounds. The underlying problem: most Firefight enemies — Grunts and Jackals — go down so easy that it’s difficult to coordinate an Assist without killing them outright. Even shattering a Jackal’s energy buckler with a plasma burst won’t register, since it’s not calculated as actual “damage” to the enemy.

Complicating matters: the sheer number of enemies, compared to your number of allies. An Assist requires at least 40% damage to the target’s combined Shields and Health, then for a teammate to finish the kill within five seconds of your last strike. With Covies swarming the entire map, it’s less likely an ally will be firing on the same target, at the same time, as you.

When tougher enemies do arrive fashionably late, they’re often too few or too resilient to rack up too many Assists. A Hunter, for example, often involves several teammates ripping into him at once, making it less likely any single player will strip off more than 40% before the beast goes down.

Plasma Pistol: The Assist's Assistant.

Brutes represent more solid candidates for Assist-farming: a steady DMR stream will flick off their helmets, setting them up for a teammate’s coup-de-grace. The problem isn’t so much that standard Brutes don’t know how to put their hats back on; it’s that most don’t carry regenerative Shields, so you won’t know how much damage one’s taken already. Plus, higher-ranking Brutes require more setup, making it difficult to gauge when you’ve crossed the 40% mark.

With all that in mind, your best bet remains to target Elites, crashing their Shields with an overcharged Plasma Pistol so that a teammate can close the deal. The Dinos — while otherwise remarkably crafty — for some reason stand and howl when they lose their Shields like a pro wrestler who just got whupped by the guy with the folding chair; so, your ally should have an easy headshot.

The problem eases up once the Mythic Skull powers on, since that doubles enemy health, including for even the lowliest DMR fodder; but — because they don’t have regenerating shields — it’ll still be difficult to gauge when you’ve peeled a Grunt or Jackal by 40%. So, better to keep steady with what’s worked for you, rather than shift strategies in the middle of the match.

Firefight Arcade now offers a candy store of options for notching Assists; we prefer Nadefight, which arms you with an EMP pipe for bursting enemy shields, though splash-damage weapon games like FRGfight and Fistfight‘s Hammer will catch some assists in your wake as well. Since Arcade doesn’t feature dropships until the bonus round, you’ll lose the chance to rack up a string of Assists off their turrets, but it’s a worthwhile tradeoff.

And, more than for any other Challenge, get friends to join you if possible; coordinating with a partner will cut both your Challenge times, taking turns flashing an Elite’s shields while the other readies a headshot. It’ll be the one time when the Firefight playlist actually becomes cooperative.

POINTS PYRAMID

Yikes, 25,000 points….seems like a lot. Guess what? Where we’re going, it won’t make any difference.

Tip Of The Day

Fire up New Alexandria, which starts you in a Falcon and pits you against enemy vehicles, worth far more points than ordinary Covies. Then switch on five Skulls: Tough Luck, Catch, Famine, Thunderstorm and Tilt. None of these affect aerial combat, but still register as major point multipliers. And don’t worry about the ground combat, either: We’re not getting out of the chopper.

Play on whatever difficulty you find comfortable, though harder ratings will attract enemy aircraft more rapidly; Heroic is likely a good balance between enemy numbers and how tough they fight, though go ahead and load up Legendary if you’re a solid pilot who’s good on the stick.

Ignore Phantoms and concentrate fire on the Banshees; though the transport ships score massive points, they don’t represent an aerial threat, they’re heavily armored, and the Banshees will quickly swarm you to protect their troops. Just pick off the Banshee flights as they approach — you’ll hit 25K in almost no time at all.

A few pointers for your Points:

Look out for rooftop Shades as they fire into the sky; if one catches you by surprise, you won’t have much chance to defend or evade.

Keep an eye on your Falcon as well; you can land and call in a fresh one at any time, so no point storming into a dogfight with your chopper already trailing fire.

If the Banshees seem to have better things to do, simply coast toward your current Objective and cut loose on rooftop enemies — you’ll score some points, and enemy aircraft will take notice quickly enough.

So, what the hell is an Ordnance Weapon? Well, you know them better as the Rockets, Laser, FRG, Concussion Rifle, Grenade and Plasma Launchers — pretty much what we lovingly refer to as Power Weapons.

Before the Action Sack playlist update, you’d actually need to go out of your way for an ordnance weapon, fighting off enemies and teammates alike for the chance to score the Rocket Launcher (as if that was different than any other day). Now? You’ve got a salad bar of options: Dino Blasters, Splockets, Rocket CTF, BOOM! Ball, the works. Play any of ’em for five minutes and you’ve got the Challenge.

Check in here for strategies on completing the Daily and Weekly Challenges in Halo: Reach. If it’s your first time, click through the About HRD link above; and add comments below if you’ve got a good idea of your own for tackling the Challenges today.

***NEW WEEKLY CHALLENGE!***

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: MYTHIC MONDAY

With the final LASO Challenge hitting this week, the lads over at the MXG at the ManeX Gaming Channel on YouTube have graciously agreed to let us run the climactic Mythic runthrough in place of their regular Video Of The Week today. (And, also, they said “How in blazes are we supposed to do that bloody mission on MYTHIC??”) Well, okay; the Weekly is NQM — Not Quite Mythic — since that requires the Blind Skull and a Solo runthrough, but fer chrissakes it’s close enough. The vid clip is full-on Mythic, though, so strap on your hip-boots: lots o’ Covies are about to die.

Special Thanks to SHADOWSTRIKE1for uploading his crazy walkthrough. The Manex Monday feature returns next week, and our regular Screenshot Of The Day returns tomorrow. So, if you haven’t done it already, yo: Send your screenshots to haloreachdaily@live.com, or just make a file recommendation to us on XBox (Gamertag: Ender Xer0, with a zero), and we’ll take care of the rest. Remember: we’re not looking for Forge art or random pix from the Internet; it should be a screenshot of YOU!

You Knew It Was Coming: The final campaign mission on the most freakishly hard difficulty setting. We’re ready; how ’bout you??

As with most of the LASO Challenges, we have our standard warning — you’re probably never going to do this alone, and if you can handle a Legendary level by yourself without dying, you don’t need any advice from HRD. So, while it’s true that the game amps up the difficulty for more players in Co-op mode, you’ll want the three more guns at your side; otherwise, it’ll just be a very long day of level Reloads.

OK then. The mission’s much too long for a detailed walkthrough here, so just as we did with the previous Campaign missions we’re going to turn the microphone over to the Mythic Master — the jacket-strapped lunatic who invented the SLASO runs, Tyrant himself — and his in-depth guide posted on Halo.Bungie.Org, where the HRD Challenge Report written by Associate Editor Foxman FX appears each day.

Meanwhile, the LASO and L.D. (Legendary Difficulty) Challenges have cycled into the regular rotation so often that we’ve gone and created a permanent standing page of all of our standard strategies for tackling the game on its hardest setting, no matter which Challenge or part of the Campaign. Check it out!

BLASTIN’ AND RELAXIN’

Take on this one last. You’ll rack up most kills working your way through today’s other Challenges; for your leftovers, our standard recommendations:

By far the most convenient carnage remains at the opening of the Campaign’s ONI Sword Base mission. If you know it and don’t like the stigma of naked credit boosting, skip down. If you don’t know it, you can find a detailed rundown in the Owning On ONI permanent link on the top of this page.

But, if you don’t like the open credit farming that goes with Target Locating, simply rack up some quick kills in a Custom Game instead. Click on the Grunt Game Settings link at the top of the page for instructions on the best settings; you’ll also find a Custom Game there already set up for you.

THIS IS MY RIFLE. . .

All sorts of options here, since “Precision Weapon” includes Snipers, Needle Rifles, and the trusty standard-issue DMR. (Even though your Magnum is a headshot weapon, it’s actually classified as a Sidearm; the Focus Rifle is a precision weapon too, but they’re fewer and further between in Multiplayer.)

Both SWAT and Team Snipers seem obvious choices, though just about any gametype with a DMR start will qualify. In the playlists that don’t emphasize one-hit kills — Team Slayer, Rumble Pit, for example — keep in mind that you only need your DMR for the final shot: soften up (but don’t kill) enemies with grenades before you open fire, take down shields with an overcharged Plasma Pistol and follow melees with a headshot rather than a second melee.

Remember also that you only need use a precision weapon to score a kill, not necessarily a headshot — so feel free to Supercombine with a Needle Rifle, it’ll uptick your Challenge meter just the same.

THERE ARE MANY LIKE IT. . .

Load up any Campaign level on Normal that offers a precision weapon plus lots o’ Grunts, and get to work.

ONI Sword Base features a DMR start and opens in the middle of a firefight, plus there’s a Sniper Rifle at the end of the base-side Terrace for pwning Elites once you’ve cleared the Jackals and Grunts. Winter Contingency at Rally Point Bravo literally drops you into a Fodder-O-Rama of a firefight; and though you enter with an Assault Rifle, a DMR conveniently awaits your weapon swap on the asphalt leading to the rear bunker, with more ammo for it just inside.

(Nightfall, of course, spawns you with a Sniper, but with 200 kills in front of you, it’s not going to wrap things as quickly; and do you really want Jun telling you to “do it quiet” again? Anyway, take yer pick.)

Concentrate on headshots against Grunts and Jackals, since those award extra Medal cR, and don’t waste DMR ammo on the Elites — you’ll run out of enemies before hitting the double-century mark and need to revert the Checkpoint anyway; so, unless you feel like sniping, you might as well reset as soon as you’ve cleaned slate on the lesser Covies.

If you run low on ammo, simply swipe Needle Rifles from the fallen Jackals; those register precision kills like a DMR, but heading into a bunker for a DMR reload can trigger a Checkpoint, meaning you’d have to settle for a full level restart.

HEROIC HOLDOUT

Your biggest obstacle here will be waiting for the map to surface in the voting options; if you’re not the quitting type, you may have to grind through two or three other Firefights for each chance at Holdout.

Just about any Arcade Firefight (short of the two grenade launchers) will let you rack up quick kills, but keep in mind you’ll have three other allies firing into the crowds as well; if your Rockets or Fuel Rods show up late to the party, you won’t end up with any points on your dance ticket.

To maximize your Holdout map time in a more standard Firefight, you might also be tempted to Sprint for the Target Locator; but, since everybody’s got that idea, you’ll only have a 1-in-4 chance of actually snaring it. And, if you don’t, you’ll be out of position for when the fun begins.

Instead, consider forgoing the Ordinance Drops to take up a good position with a DMR loadout; the first targets are Grunts and Jackals, both of which drop from single headshots. By the time the Target Locator charges and fires, you’ll have already racked up nearly as many kills — all with bonus headshot points — and be in position for more.

As more Waves arrive, ignore the Brutes and Elites until you’ve cleared the decks of lesser infantry; remember, you’re going for straight kills, not Firefight points, and mixing it up with tougher enemies will surrender easy kills to your fellow Spartans.

Also don’t waste time on the Hunters; they don’t register all that many points for the effort involved, you’ll burn through good ammo and, with your teammates firing on them too, you may not even collect the kill.